The UNC Board of Governors has remained tight-lipped, for the most part, about its search for a new UNC System president after former president Tom Ross was pressured to step down without explanation in January.
This silent treatment continued Friday after the board held an emergency closed meeting on the campus of the software company, SAS, to meet with Margaret Spellings, former United States education secretary for the George W. Bush administration.
Spellings’ name was leaked to reporters by unnamed insiders within the board and is apparently a leading candidate to replace Ross as president.
Chairperson John Fennebresque called the meeting on Wednesday to “meet with and have a conversation with a promising candidate for the presidency and to receive a status report from the Search Committee,” according to an email sent on his behalf. Amid fears that her name would be released, Friday was the earliest that Spellings could meet, which gave the board two days’ notice to adjust its schedules, according to internal emails.
Some board members have accused Fennebresque of delegitimizing the search by calling the meeting because of the risk of seeming unfair to other candidates and to the democratic process.
Board member David Powers stated in an email obtained by The News & Observer that even if “the candidate” is worthy of the position, he did not believe that the perception of them being “the chairman’s choice” would be good for the presidency. Powers called on Fennebresque to resign before Friday’s meeting.
Thom Goolsby, a board member, expressed this sentiment in much harsher terms saying that Fennebresque had lost the trust of the board, the legislature and the public and added, “no matter how qualified, anyone advanced under your chairmanship would be fruit from a poisonous tree.”
Further complicating the circumstances surrounding the meeting was a bill passed by the Republican-led general assembly last month, which seemed to be aimed at avoiding a situation where only one candidate would be considered. The bill would mandate that at least three final candidates be considered by the full board rather than just the 11-person search committee, which is the only interaction that the other candidates have had with the board with the exception of Spellings.
Concerns over adhering to the bill were formally expressed by Republican Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Republican House Speaker Tim Moore in a letter which read, “While the bill has not yet been signed by the Governor, calling an emergency meeting to discuss only one candidate could be viewed as the Board’s attempt to circumvent the overwhelming will of the elected people of the State of North Carolina prior to the bill becoming law.”
It is rare for the general assembly to intervene with BoG affairs. Board member Champ Mitchell said that the board “never” meets with more than a search committee’s top candidate. However, he feels that the board must comply with the wishes of the legislature to have at least three names brought forward, regardless of whether the bill has been signed into law.
Gov. Pat McCrory is expected to rule on the bill before the next board meeting Oct. 29.
Neither Fennebresque nor the rest of the board made themselves available for questions after the meeting.